Breakfast for dinner

When I was in grade school, once a month, the cafeteria would offer "breakfast for lunch." This was one of the most popular lunches, and looking back on it, I have no idea why. We'd drown the Eggo-style waffles in so much maple-flavored syrup that they were totally soggy, the sausages were okay but not amazing, and the eggs were standard scrambled eggs. I distinctly remember being fairly unimpressed by pancakes and eggs at home, so I don't know why, when breakfast was moved to lunch, it suddenly became an amazing culinary event. My conclusion is that kids are weird, and I don't understand them.

As an adult, breakfast for dinner is definitely awesome. It's an easy thing to put together if you* want to invite people over, it's novel enough to be appealing yet easy enough to be quick and fairly cheap. (If you're buying fancy local humanely raised guilt-bacon, like me, you may need to add scare quotes around "cheap." However, and I suppose this shouldn't be surprising, this was probably some of the best bacon I've had.) Fancy glassware can be used to serve orange juice, which is delicious, and waffles are a treat for the waffle-iron-less. Waffles are also incredibly easy to make, even when you have a very finicky waffle maker with no timing element, a tendency to get hotter the longer it's on, and an undeniable bent toward destruction. Even slightly over- or underdone waffles are delicious.

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I don't really have a point. It might have something to do with "night coffee isn't a great idea, and now I'm writing this at 12:30 am instead of sleeping." Also, if you're going to do breakfast for dinner, a dishwasher is a very nice thing to have.

The only bad thing about breakfast for dinner as a social event is that you'll probably have to eat in the dining room, as opposed to the breakfast nook (if you have a breakfast nook). This ties into my earlier post about houses, though...breakfast nooks are delightful. Not a dealbreaker for a kitchen, but an unexpectedly delightful bonus.

*I have no idea why I'm writing this with a prescriptive bent. Obviously, I am talking about myself. I do appreciate any opportunity to use my fancy glassware. And my waffle maker is obnoxiously tricky to use. It makes a lion, an elephant and a clown. The clown is the smallest, and always ends up a little burnt, like the bucket brigade didn't quite make it in time.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Breakfast for breakfast at the breakfast nook.This clown is a little deformed, but pretty perfect as far as "not horribly burnt" goes."][/caption]

Unsolicited house-buying advice and juice update

I am helping certain people with their house hunt, and I often think about my house hunt, how much I love my house, how terrible my house-buying timing was (I bought RIGHT before the bubble burst, and RIGHT in the tiny window between one set of new homeowner tax breaks and the next set of new homeowner tax breaks) and how my house-buying experience was not really stressful in the ways that I assumed it would be.

Houses are a huge investment. This is probably the largest purchase I will ever make. The short list of things I did was 1. Found great people to help me do stuff. 2. Had a very clear picture of what I wanted. 3. Didn't settle for anything less than amazing.

Here is a long list of the things I did during my house-hunting process:

1. Researched mortgage rates and talked to multiple banks before deciding where to go. Things taken into account included rates, fees, closing costs and customer service.

2. Went with a local bank that told me that while they contractually *could* sell my mortgage, they probably wouldn't, since they hadn't ever sold mortgages to other companies. This came in really handy when interest rates plummeted. Modifying a loan is much, much easier than refinancing. I think it took me 5 minutes. On the phone.

3. Found a realtor. I lucked into this one, actually. I decided I wanted to find a realtor, I went to a condo open house, and talked to the listing agent there. I liked her a lot, and she agreed to work with me. She is amazing. If anyone in the KC area is looking for a realtor, I have a recommendation for you. The thing about a good realtor is that, ideally, they will know more about houses than you do. In my case, I thought I wanted a condo. When I described what I was looking for (size, dedicated parking, $120K limit), I was told that what I probably wanted was a house. Yes. Turns out, that was totally accurate. I was able to make a list of things I really, really wanted (true ranch, 3 bedrooms - one for me, one dedicated guest room and an office - garage, basement, hardwoods would be nice) and that helped narrow down houses. She was also very good at seeing what was wrong with houses. As someone who had previously lived in apartments, I did not know things about, say, foundations. She did. That's really helpful. If you can swing it, I highly recommend working with someone who has rehabbed houses, or who has an extensive background in something like that.

4. Looked a ton of houses. I looked for about three months, I looked several days a week, and I looked at two or more properties each time. This was grueling, but it helped me figure out what I liked and disliked about real-world houses. Since my intention was to buy a house that I would stay in forever, I needed to find something that I loved.

5. Initially thought I'd get a fixer-upper for cheap, but then changed my mind and decided it would be worth it to just get a house I already liked and could occupy immediately. I think a lot of people do this. There is something very appealing about getting a good deal and learning how to do useful things with houses. However, I've found that getting a house, any house, comes with a lot of on-the-job learning opportunities, so to speak. Only now can I fully appreciate how unprepared I would have been to fix up a house!

6. Made an offer on a house that I felt okay about, but didn't love. That offer was not accepted. THANK GOODNESS. I would not have been happy in that house. That was an "this is close enough and I'm so tired of looking at houses" house.

7. Found a house I loved, looked at it twice, and paid for a home inspection. Always get a home inspection. It helped me get a handle on the things I'd need to do if I bought the house (in my case, I had to get the furnace flue relined, install a new garage door, get some siding replaced and get the chimney cap sealed. None of these things were awful, and knowing what I was getting into was incredibly helpful).

8. Checked on the utilities. In Missouri, at least, if you're looking at a house, you can usually just call the utility companies, explain what you're doing, and get a monthly bill average for the last year. This is somewhat helpful, but by no means a perfect system. It can give you an idea of how much your bills might be, if people have been living in the house. Though your energy/water/gas usage will probably be different, it's a start. The more information you have, the better.

9. Listened to my realtor when it came to making an offer and things to ask for. A home inspection is going to turn up a LOT of stuff. Some of it is really important. Some of it isn't. I had certain things that I wanted the sellers to fix, and I had certain things that I was okay with taking care of on my own.

10. Closed quickly, and had about a month where I still had my old apartment and the new house. This made moving a lot less stressful. I didn't feel rushed. I also had a very motivated friend with a truck who decided that we were going to move my bed to the new house very early on in the process. It turns out that when your bed moves, you have effectively moved as well. This gave me plenty of time to sort through items in the apartment and clean it up in preparation for my departure.

The end result of all of this is that I've been in my house for almost six years. It's a solid house, it's had a totally reasonable number of house issues, which I have either fixed myself or had fixed by others. I've gotten to be pretty handy, and I feel comfortable tackling a range of house projects. I also never look at other houses and think "I really wish I could live in that house." At most, I think "that house is really cool." And then I think "I really love my house." I do occasionally have fancy apartment envy, because fancy apartments are soooo nice, but it is fleeting. It is more than overpowered by my hatred of moving and my love of this house.

To sum up: It took a long time! It was a lot of work! Totally worth it! Find a good realtor!

Juice update:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323" caption="Super green."][/caption]

I keep buying containers for juice. In addition to the glass carafe, I now have a 2-liter jug (for big batches!) and a to-go cup thing (not pictured). I made a double batch today with kale, collard greens, spinach, cucumbers, apples, a lot of ginger, lemon and celery. I have made juice every day since the first day I made juice (which I believe was Monday). I have also started a juice spreadsheet to track how much I have spent on things for juice (it does not have a containers column, but if I get any more, I will have to add one). The batches of juice (each batch is just under a liter) have averaged a little under $4, when I take into account the fact that I have a lot of vegetables and fruits that I have purchased but not yet used.

In Which I Ramble About Operas and Symphonies and I Do Not Talk About Cats At All

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I have the best intentions when it comes to seeing shows. I really, truly believe that I'm going to take advantage of the marvelous arts scene in Kansas City. There are fairly affordable tickets to a lot of things, and I always think "I'll just get back row tickets and it'll be cheap and easy and I'll see everything!" I never do this. I never, ever do this. I just forget, and things come and go and I realize after the fact and it's frustrating. This is how I missed "Tosca" at the Lyric Opera. I was so upset about "Tosca" that I got season tickets to the opera and have just continued to do that every year since. When I was younger, I got the cheapest package you could get. I really appreciated that with a subscription, I could switch performance dates and get additional discounted tickets. Now that I'm older, I get slightly nicer seats. I don't think I'm ever going to be a person with super fancy awesome seats, but the fact that I'm someone who gets season tickets to the opera at all, frankly, feels very fancy. As of this year, I'm trying this with the symphony as well. Sundays at the Symphony - the little subscription! For people who are interested in seeing symphonies, but are also kind of cheap.

Two facts about going to see live musical performances:
1. You can dress up!
2. You totally do not have to dress up.

Not everybody is into opera. (I would go so far as to say that most people are NOT into opera. Certainly not most people my age.) I love it. Yes, operas are long. They can be ridiculous, their storylines can be maddeningly inappropriate ("Cosi fan tutte" is TERRIBLE. "Turandot" is TERRIBLE.) but the music can be sublime. Opera is amazing. If you have never seen it live and you live in Kansas City, I urge you to give it a try. I would also urge you to not see "Norma" because it's a tough opera for a non-opera person to enjoy/stay awake for. Maybe try "The Barber of Seville," anything by Gilbert and Sullivan, "Carmen," "Turandot" or something with a piece that you've heard before. I think it can be very helpful to see a show where the music feels familiar. Opera is used in a lot of popular media (Bugs Bunny cartoons!), and when something is familiar, it's a lot less weird and intimidating.

I attended a performance of Mahler's 6th on Sunday at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. It was the first time I had been in the Helzberg Hall, and I was definitely impressed. The acoustics were wonderful, and the seats were supportive but not so comfortable that I worried about nodding off (I love classical music, but I do tend to get a little bit sleepy sometimes).

Music has always been a huge part of my life. When I was growing up, my dad worked at the UMKC conservatory, and I'd get to see a lot of shows. I've played the piano and the violin since I was four, and I've been in multiple string orchestras. I've performed in competitions and recitals, and while I haven't done any of these things in years, it is still of interest to me. Mostly, I enjoy music that I have nothing to do with. I find it engaging and relaxing, and similar to my advice about opera, if you have never listened to a symphony all the way through, preferably live, I think it's a good thing for people to do at least once. Some people find it incredibly boring. I recommend, again, something familiar. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky...Mahler is great. I'd stay away from Brahms if you're a first-timer...you will fall asleep. No judgment. It's veeeery soothing.

Kansas City is a very interesting city for the performing arts. It's sometimes surprising to remember that not every large city has an opera company or a symphony. Tickets to performances can be incredibly expensive. I consider myself to be very fortunate to live in a city where these kinds of experiences are both available and reasonably affordable. They have student rates, and back-row seats, and little packages that are all a huge blessing to people who are interested in this kind of thing.

Go see some shows! Attend the symphony! Check out an opera! Even if you hate it and you never do it again, you can say that you gave it a shot.

Unsolicited advice about kitchen stuff

If you are interested in cooking, or if you know someone who is interested in cooking and is in the process of building up their kitchen, and there's a budget to consider, there's a great article on that here. I agree with all of it, I think.

Things that have been particularly helpful to me over the years:

Santoku knife
Big cutting board with handle
Big mixing bowl with cover
A good wok
Crock pot
Electric kettle
French press

(these are in addition to the usual things - spatulas, frying pans, copper-bottomed pots if you're fancy, etc.)

I have an immersion blender that I really like, but honestly, I mostly use it for soups. It could be used for more things, and that helps to justify its purchase (also the fact that I think it was $20) but most people already have regular blenders and those are fine for soups too (though potentially messy).

I've also got several teapots. These aren't strictly necessary (there are so many ways to make tea), but having *one* teapot can be very helpful if you have people over and more than one person wants tea.

If you're into cooking but you don't have cable, PBS has a lot of really great cooking shows. My very favorite is "Jacques and Julia: Cooking at Home." If you don't already love Julia Child, you will. It's also incredibly informative.

How to Write Angry Letters

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="He just saw a Dr. Pepper 10 commercial and he's pretty mad."][/caption]

I sometimes write letters to corporations when I am angry.

Examples of this:
Dr. Pepper 10: Oh, how I hate you, Dr. Pepper 10. I have never tried you, but your marketing campaign makes me furious.
Bic Cristal for Her: ARE YOU SERIOUS, BIC? Come on.
AMC Theatres: I got carded when I went to see "Pitch Perfect." So angry.

Some guidelines for writing a corporation to express displeasure:

1. The most important rule: remember that the person who will be reading your letter has NOTHING to do with the thing that you're upset about! Don't take it out on them. Be polite. I tend to reference the fact that it's not their fault! Because it isn't. Customer support people have enough terrible nonsense to deal with. Don't vent at your computer and think that it's harmless...there's a person on the other side of that screen and this really isn't their fault. Full disclosure: I used to be in customer support! It's kind of terrible! Some people are great at it, and they can just let things roll off of them, since nothing they are reading is directed at them personally. I am not one of those people, and I found it to be incredibly stressful and upsetting. Be polite to customer support people! You can write letters of this nature without being a jerk.

2. Know why you're writing. Do you just want to let them know that their marketing tactic is sexist and insulting, and that it will keep you from ever enjoying their products (Dr. Pepper, perhaps?) again? Cool! Tell them that! Do you want something out of it? (Like, not getting carded when attending movies aimed at tweens?) Good luck with that, it probably won't happen (but sometimes it might!). If you are upset because, say, you were overcharged or something like that, it doesn't hurt to outline what happened, how you feel you were wronged, and what you'd like them to do about it. This actually happened to me with an entry fee at an outdoorsy-type place, and I wrote them to apologetically explain that yes, they overcharged me, but I didn't notice at the time, and it would be difficult to prove one way or the other. They were super apologetic and offered to give me a refund. I've also written to companies about products falling apart. Sometimes they've been helpful, sometimes they haven't, and one time, they asked me for my shoe size and replaced the broken shoes without me even asking. (Melissa! If you want kicky rubber shoes, Melissa's customer service is amazing.)

3. Don't expect to get anything out of it. I've gotten canned responses (I hate you, Dr. Pepper 10), personal responses (AMC Theatres...I still am mad at you) and no responses (Bic! Deafening silence!). These are all totally fine. You wrote your letter, you got whatever thing you wanted to say out there, and now you can sit back and wait until the next seriously misguided corporate decision sets you off again!

Seriously, though...remember #1. Don't be a jerk to customer support people. Remember to tell them thanks if they go above and beyond to help resolve your issue. Nothing can resolve Dr. Pepper 10, though. UGH.